Hi-jacked

Infobox Television episode
Title = Hi-jacked
Series = Joe 90
Season = 1
Episode = 4
Airdate = October 20, 1968
Production = 2
Writer = Tony Barwick
Director = Alan Perry
Episode list = List of "Joe 90" episodes
Prev = Project 90
Next = Colonel McClaine

"Hi-jacked" is the fourth episode of the Supermarionation television series "Joe 90". It was the second episode to be produced. Its original UK air date was October 20, 1968 on ATV Midlands. It was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Alan Perry.

Synopsis

An agent investigating a lethal arms runner is shot and left for dead in a street. Joe is equipped with his brain pattern to infiltrate the hideout of Mario Colletti, but can he stop his adversary after losing his special glasses?

Plot

Late at night, Sam Loover discovers one of his agents, Ed Johnson, lying unconscious in a deserted backstreet. He takes Johnson's concealed audio recorder before he is picked up by paramedics. Following the ambulance in his car, Sam phones Professor McClaine and asks him to come to Northfield Hospital.

While Johnson is treated for his gunshot wound, Joe, Mac and Sam set up a portable transmitter next to his head and relay the agent's brain pattern to the McClaine's coastal cottage. Travelling to Joe and Mac's home, Sam plays one of Johnson's recordings, in which he states that Mario Colletti, a notorious arms runner, will hijack a shipment of guns in about one hour. Sam reveals that Johnson was on Colletti's case and was probably shot after his investigations became too intrusive. He is certain that Colletti is in England and is determined to apprehend him before more people are killed by his smuggled weapons. To this effect, Joe must infiltrate Colletti's hideout.

At the cottage, Johnson's brain pattern is transferred to Joe and the trio set off for the Hudson Armaments factory. Joe stows away in an empty crate and is loaded onto the truck carrying the weapons consignment by the unsuspecting workmen, who cannot distinguish Joe's weight from that of a full crate. The truck leaves the compound, but Colletti's henchmen have set up an ambush on the country road and the police escort crashes after being shot at with a mounted machine gun. The terrified truck driver speeds on, but vans block the road ahead and he too crashes. Monitoring Joe's progress from the cottage, Mac and Sam notice that the boy's homing signal is stationary – meaning that the shipment has been attacked. Joe will now have a free ride all the way to Colletti's lair.

At the scene of the ambush, the weapons are transferred to the vans and the crooks drive to the barn concealing the entrance to Colletti's underground complex. Once inside, the cargo is left for unloading and Joe contacts Mac and Sam, saying that he will explore the hideout and report later. However, on leaving his crate, Joe activates a motion detector and is chased by two henchmen, Gregson and Davis. After a brief shootout, Joe is cornered and his glasses are seized. Colletti is amused to find a young boy in his hideout and dismisses Joe's WIN equipment as children's toys. He orders Gregson to take the boy home, but decides that Joe has seen too much of his operation and passes a secret command to the henchman to dispose of him.

Gregson locks Joe in the boot of a car and drives away from the complex. Joe calls Mac and Sam to tell them that he has been captured. Sam advises him to recover his glasses and Mac suggests that he feel around the lock to escape from the boot. However, Gregson puts the vehicle in drive at a cliff-edge, watching as it tumbles down the hillside and explodes at the base.

Joe's homing device has now stopped signalling and an alarmed Mac and Sam hurry to his last coordinates. The police have found no bodies in the car wreckage and the pair realise that Joe managed to escape in time. Sam has roughly plotted the position of Colletti's lair and the men set off to rescue Joe in Mac's car.

At the hideout, Joe arms himself with his gun and stealthily approaches Colletti as he sits in his office. He covertly retrieves his glasses, but Colletti hears his movements and goes after his enemy. Loose in the complex, the pair fight to the death. Joe loses his pistol, but hurls a grenade at the arms runner and Colletti is killed in the blast. The detonation starts a fire and Joe is overcome by the smoke, but not before he opens the barn door, letting in Mac and Sam. The men escape from the complex with the unconscious Joe before it is ripped apart in an explosion.

As morning breaks, Sam announces that Colletti's men have all been placed under arrest. Now that Joe has recovered, Mac gives him his next mission: to have a hot bath and go straight to bed.

Cast

Regular voice cast

*Joe McClaine — Len Jones
*Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine — Rupert Davies
*Sam Loover — Keith Alexander

Guest voice cast

In speaking order:

*Ed Johnson (voice) — Martin King
*Davis — Martin King
*Gregson — Keith Alexander
*Mario Colletti — David Healy
*Carter — Martin King
*Police Officer — Martin King
*Radio (voice) — Keith Alexander
*Police Radio (voice) — David Healy

Notes

*Footage from "Hi-jacked" is used as a flashback in the clip show episode, "The Birthday".

External links

* [http://www.fanderson.org.uk/epguides/joeeg.html#Episode%20Two Fanderson.org.uk: "Joe 90" Episode Guide: "Hi-jacked"]
* [http://www.bigrat.co.uk/episodes/episode_02.html Bigrat.co.uk: "Joe 90" Episode Guide: "Hi-jacked"]
* [http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Joe%2090%20Timeline.htm# Clivebanks.co.uk: "Joe 90" Episode Guide]